The Sound of Diversity : Music: Scope of artists, music styles fuel growing popularity of Street Scene.

The Michelob Street Scene, which takes its eighth annual bow on Friday and Saturday in an area covering 12 blocks of downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter, is becoming a nationally recognized “Big Event” for a number of very good, somewhat obvious reasons.

Perhaps most importantly, the summertime blowout showcases an impressive, broad spectrum of musical talent--from veteran stars to current hit makers, from cult favorites to tomorrow’s buzzes, from local artists familiar mostly to San Diego club habitues to ethnic performers of international renown.

A similarly diverse array of food; a casual, metropolitan ambience; and the heady, escapist fizz of an all-day, all-night soiree (usually abetted by shirt-sleeve weather) contribute to an eclectic appeal that has been trumpeted far and wide by performers, pleased patrons, and such eavesdropping media shoguns as MTV.

But an equally significant, albeit less glamorous, factor in the Street Scene’s success story is its avoidance of many of the pitfalls of rapid growth that have handicapped other urban music festivals.

Nashville, for one example, recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its increasingly popular “Summer Lights” urban fair by expanding to cover more of the city’s downtown. As a result, at times the distance between music stages was so great that patrons had to be shuttled from one part of the festival to another, dissipating the focal energy that is so crucial to these events.

Milwaukee’s heavily attended “SummerFest” boasts a midway with rides, a variety of foods, and continuous amateur entertainment but now requires separate admission to the series of concerts featuring big-name recording artists. The Chicago Blues Festival stretches out over several days and has grown into such a sprawling smorgasbord of restaurant booths, radio-station razzmatazz and other attractions that the music has become almost secondary.

Perhaps the Street Scene’s closest analogue in terms of musical diversity is New Orleans’ world-famous Jazz and Heritage Festival. But that gala, which is held in the daytime at a racetrack, draws as many as 100,000 revelers per day over two weekends. Its size and relative lack of organization are drawbacks.

By comparison, the Street Scene continues to grow, both physically (more than 50 acts presented on 10 simultaneously active stages this year) and in attendance (25,000 people expected each night), while maintaining the convivial, parochial spirit of a huge block party. But the Street Scene’s overriding achievement is its seamless integration of such components as a multiethnic food fair, four over-21 “beer gardens,” and vendors hawking arts, crafts, and other wares, into a festival that steadfastly places the main emphasis on the presentation of live music.

This year’s Street Scene offers the most variegated gathering of talent in its history, ranging from the stellar electric blues of B.B. King (Saturday) to the arcane delights of jazz banjoist Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (also Saturday). Among the nearly 60 acts are headline-status representatives from the worlds of country, Cajun-zydeco, jazz, Latino, blues, reggae, world beat, rock, and Tex-Mex or conjunto music.

That last category is new to the 1991 lineup. Once novices get a taste of this effervescent, dance-dictatin’ hybrid of Mexican ( Norteno, Tejano ), German (polka), and American (country) music, however, Tex-Mex could become a Street Scene staple.

The most noteworthy Tex-Mex entry might be the Texas Tornados, who play Friday night. This all-star cast (Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, Freddie Fender, Flaco Jimenez) ripped it up at the Del Mar Fair earlier this summer. But there is no drop-off in quality when you roll-call the likes of Austin’s Joe (King) Carrasco y Las Coronas (Friday), Grammy-winning accordionist Santiago Jimenez, Jr., brother of Flaco (Friday), Mingo Saldivar y sus Tremendos 4 Espadas (Friday), and Brave Combo (Friday and Saturday).

Other Street Scene highlights to listen for include Dash Rip Rock, the ferocious roots-country-punk trio from New Orleans, who will be joined for their Friday show by San Diego’s own madman, Mojo Nixon; Buddy Guy, the legendary Chicago blues guitarist who squeezes sparks from every note (Friday); Les Tetes Brulees, the outrageous Afro-Pop band from Cameroon (Saturday); saucy Queen Ida and Her Zydeco Band (Friday); up-and-coming blues phenom John Campbell (Friday); sizzling blues-rock-N’Awlins-boogie keyboardist-singer Marcia Ball (Saturday); seismic gospel vocalists Clarence Fountain and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama (Friday); and innovative country band, Highway 101 (Saturday).

Getting to Michelob Street Scene ’91 will be easier than in past years, as well. Event producer Rob Hagey has enlisted San Diego Trolley, Gaslamp Quarter Trolley, private parking companies and Metro Traffic to promote a “Park-N-Ride Campaign” intended to ease congestion at the site by encouraging people to “commute” to and from the area. A total of 4,000 parking spaces are available at 16 park-and-ride stations from South Bay to El Cajon (call the Hotline below for exact locations), with one-way trolley fares ranging from 50 cents to $1.75, depending on distance travelled.

In addition, special parking rates have been arranged at several downtown lots. Attendees can park for free at the County Administration Building’s lot on Harbor Drive and take a ‘Street Scene Trolley’ to the event for 50 cents. Other pickup spots include the B Street Pier and Seaport Village.

But no matter how one arrives, the event promises to be the most memorable thus far in a series that is putting San Diego on the international music map.

“Michelob Street Scene ‘91” will take place Friday and Saturday, from 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. both days. Admission is open to all ages, although discretion in bringing small children is advised. Advance tickets, available at all TicketMaster outlets, are $16 for each day, or $30 for the two-day package. Tickets are $20 each day at the on-site box offices, situated at the entry gates (the North Gate box office at 5th Avenue and Market Street opens at noon each day; the East Gate box office at K Street and 6th Avenue, and the South Gate Box office at L Street and 5th Avenue open at 3:30 p.m.). There is no re-entry once one leaves the premises. For more information, call the Michelob Street Scene Hotline at 268-9025.

Street Scene Performers

The following is a complete list of acts participating in Street Scene. For times and locations, please call the Street Scene Hotline at 268-9025. FRIDAY Robert Cray Band with the Memphis Horns The Beat Farmers Dash Rip Rock with Mojo Nixon Burning Spear and the Burning Band Eek-A-Mouse The Bonedaddys Texas Tornados Joe (King) Carrasco Brave Combo Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels Rare Earth The Mar Dels Buddy Guy Otis Clay and the Chicago Fire Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas The Bluerunners Wade Preston Mingo Sandivar y 4 Espadas Santiago Jimenez Jr. Queen Ida and Her Zydeco Band The Five Blind Boys of Alabama John Delafose Midnight Soul Patrol John Campbell Larry (Arkansas) Davis Saffire--The Uppity Blues Women Jon Faddis Quartet Bennie Wallace Quartet Harry Pickens SATURDAY B.B. King Bobby Blue Bland Larry Arkansas Davis Eric Burdon with the Brian Auger Band The Charlie Musselwhite Band Pato Banton and the Reggae Revolution Jellyfish No Doubt Richard Elliot Strunz and Farah Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Kanda Bongo Man Lds Tetes Brulees Highway 101 Diamond Rio Linda Rae and Breakheart Pass Zachary Richard Marcia Ball The Bluerunners Terrance Simien and the Mallet Playboys Brave Combo School of Fish Wild Cards Rebel Rockers Henry Kapono First Commandment Blazers Forbidden Pigs Jon Faddis Quartet Bennie Wallace Quartet Harry Pickens